It can take some getting used to. Also, more taxes tend to be taken out than if you were paid biweekly. A friend of mine told me it took her about 6 months to really get the hang of it, but I confess she isn't the best with a budget. She said the hardest part was paying her bills on time...she finally learned to pay them all the day she was paid regardless of what date they were due during the month, then to split the remainder for the next few weeks.

I actually found it easier. I knew that out of every paycheck exactly how far it had to stretch. So much for mortgage, about this amount for electricity and gas, 1/12 of the insurance and real estate taxes, etc.

It forced me to think in the long term and know that we couldn't fudge during the pay period that didn't have the mortgage payment, for example. No wiggle room meant not justification for going off the budget. That may be my own little mind-set quirk.

Monthly payments are the norm here, not fortnightly, so it seems natural to me that pay frequency match the frequency of bills, which are also monthly. I also set up my bills so that they are all due early in the month (around the 5th, so I have time to fix things if anything messes up my pay deposit). Then, the amount in my account is what I have to spend until the end of the month. To me, that is easier than having to consider how much will be deposited in the middle of the month and what bills still have to come in.

I am also paid once per month, and I don't find the frequency of paychecks to be a problem. I think it helps a lot if you have enough of a financial cushion that you aren't counting down the days until payday. I am always paid at the end of the month, and I try to pay my bills as close to the first of the month as I can, but I could pay them earlier than that. So if for some reason I had to pay them earlier, I wouldn't be in a financial bind. Essentially, I've gotten myself into the position where I'm really spending October's paycheck right now, even if I don't actually pay any of those bills until December.

The only thing I truly don't like about being paid on a monthly basis is that, the way my employer does it, I am not paid the exact same amount each month. My pay periods actually run from the middle of one month to the middle of the next, and then I am paid for those hours at the end of the month. So instead of an averaged monthly amount, I'm paid for the actual hours I worked, and every pay period has a slightly different number of hours. I end up using an averaged amount of money (my annual salary divided by 12) for budgeting purposes, and just remind myself that some months will be less than that while other months will be more.

[snip] I think it helps a lot if you have enough of a financial cushion that you aren't counting down the days until payday.

POD! I was amazed at what a difference it made once we had amassed (and kept) enough money in our checking account to cover pretty much any individual bill. Not everything all at once, but enough that if I messed up and forgot to record a check I wrote or if a bill got mislaid or if I had to write a largish unexpected check. I had no idea how much stress I had been putting myself under by running close to the margin and having to constantly check whether we were overdrawing and worrying about whether I got my paycheck in the bank on Friday versus Monday.

(I know it's really hard to get ahead financially when you're paycheck to paycheck, so please believe I really don't mean this as a judgement! It is a goal worth pursuing, though!)

Grocery shopping for Tgiving day. When is the best time to do this in order to avoid crowds while making sure your produce is still fresh?

Is Sunday too early? Or will the stores be just as crowded due to working people doing their weekend shopping?

When do you shop?

Try some of those green produce bags - your store probably has them in the produce section. They really do work! Then you could shop a week ahead of time and wouldn't have to worry about the produce issue.

Monthly is normal here (for salaried employees), and I don't like it. All the money has to be allocated and planned out and stretched. Now at my new job I get paid fortnightly and it basically feels like a constant stream of money coming in, we love it! We are still saving etc but don't have to strategize cash flow as much. DH is still paid monthly so we have direct debits etc happening on that date, then my money is our living money. So from my perspective I'd say yes, not hard but harder.

I'm not in the US but I find the best time to shop is later at night (after 8:00) if the store is open that late or around what is a normal dinner time for your area. I find if I shop after 6:00, it is less crowded than shopping at 5:00. I find Saturday evening a really good time to shop, too.

I have a product by Tupperware called 'Fridge Smarts'. They are fantastic for produce. I've kept lettuce and spinach in good shape for more than two weeks. I put some celery in one this time last year and it somehow got shoved out of sight. I found it the end of January. I was afraid to open the container but I did, because I wasn't prepared to throw it out. Not only was it not an absolute pile of glop, it was still recognizable as celery. I didn't eat it, mainly because I knew how long it had been there but someone else who didn't know? Might have used it. And no, I don't sell Tupperware.

But for you, buying produce Sunday for use on Thursday should be fine. Make sure you keep everything in plastic bags and tie them off to minimize the air flow. I know other people who've wrapped heads of lettuce or celery in tinfoil to help preserve it. Root vegetables would be better off not refrigerated; just keep them in a dry, cool place, preferably not in plastic. Store each kind of veggie separate, especially keeping onions away from the potatoes.

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After cleaning out my Dad's house, I have this advice: If you haven't used it in a year, throw it out!!!!.

Grocery shopping for Tgiving day. When is the best time to do this in order to avoid crowds while making sure your produce is still fresh?

Is Sunday too early? Or will the stores be just as crowded due to working people doing their weekend shopping?

When do you shop?

Last year, I hosted T-Giving, and was freaking out about this same issue. I shopped Wednesday morning, and had no problems with crowds. I did my whole grocery run, and was in and out of the store in about 1.25 hours, which is normal shopping time for me.

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Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not. - Uncle Iroh

From personal experience, I don't think it is any harder to budget when you are paid once a month, as opposed to weekly or every other week.

What is harder is sticking to the budget, especially if you are used to getting a paycheck every week or two. During the transition stage, you tend to forget that there isn't another paycheck coming in a week.

My advice, which is worth what you are paying for it:

Gradually save up so that you have at least one month's take home pay in a savings account. This way, if you run short of funds at the end of the month, you can dip into your savings. First thing you do when you get paid is top off the savings. Slowly grow the amount in your emergency fund to three month's worth of take home pay.

Write down all your fixed costs--rent/mortage, insurance, car payment, student loans, utilities (usually you can work out an average cost per month), anything you pay every month. Add those up. That will show you how much money you have left for things like food and gas and fun things like new clothes and music and going to the movies.

Pay the fixed costs as soon as you get your paycheck every month. That way, you won't be scrambling to find money to pay the rent, or getting hit with late charges because you couldn't pay a bill on time.

Put money in your savings account after you pay the bills.

Then you know that what's left in the checking account is yours to spend as you please for the next 4 weeks. Do a little planning ahead--if you know you need to buy a friend a birthday present, or you want to go out with friends, mentally set aside that money.

I've been paid weekly, bi-weekly and monthly. I vastly prefer monthly, because I know how much money I have for the month and I don't have to wait for it. Getting paid weekly--I would want to pay a bill, but have to wait a week until a paycheck came in, which was a bit frustrating.

The one thing about monthly paychecks that I have noticed with some people is that they see something expensive they want and at the beginning of the month they have enough money to buy it, so they do. Leaving them with not enough money for food and gas at the end of the month. That's impulse spending, not a lack of budgeting. Once you have built up a safety cushion in savings, you can indulge in a tiny bit of impulse spending without running into trouble.

Thanks everyone! I have always been paid biweekly, so I got a little intimidated when I got my first monthly pay check. Unfortunately, not all of my bills are due at the beginning of the month (I get paid at the end); I'll make mental withdrawals for those so I know where I stand.